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Masking by inaudible sounds and the linearity of temporal summation.

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Masking by inaudible sounds and the linearity of temporal summation. / Plack, C. J.; Drga, V.; Oxenham, A. J.
In: Journal of Neuroscience, Vol. 26, 01.01.2006, p. 8767-8773.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Plack, CJ, Drga, V & Oxenham, AJ 2006, 'Masking by inaudible sounds and the linearity of temporal summation.', Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 26, pp. 8767-8773. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1134-06.2006

APA

Vancouver

Plack CJ, Drga V, Oxenham AJ. Masking by inaudible sounds and the linearity of temporal summation. Journal of Neuroscience. 2006 Jan 1;26:8767-8773. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1134-06.2006

Author

Plack, C. J. ; Drga, V. ; Oxenham, A. J. / Masking by inaudible sounds and the linearity of temporal summation. In: Journal of Neuroscience. 2006 ; Vol. 26. pp. 8767-8773.

Bibtex

@article{4edb73c590644d86a1c1b194fd722f6f,
title = "Masking by inaudible sounds and the linearity of temporal summation.",
abstract = "Many natural sounds, including speech and animal vocalizations, involve rapid sequences that vary in spectrum and amplitude. Each sound within a sequence has the potential to affect the audibility of subsequent sounds in a process known as forward masking. Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying forward masking, particularly in more realistic situations in which multiple sounds follow each other in rapid succession. A parsimonious hypothesis is that the effects of consecutive sounds combine linearly, so that the total masking effect is a simple sum of the contributions from the individual maskers. The experiment reported here tests a counterintuitive prediction of this linear-summation hypothesis, namely that a sound that itself is inaudible should, under certain circumstances, affect the audibility of subsequent sounds. The results show that, when two forward maskers are combined, the second of the two maskers can continue to produce substantial masking, even when it is completely masked by the first masker. Thus, inaudible sounds can affect the perception of subsequent sounds. A model incorporating instantaneous compression (reflecting the nonlinear response of the basilar membrane in the cochlea), followed by linear summation of the effects of the maskers, provides a good account of the data. Despite the presence of multiple sources of nonlinearity in the auditory system, masking effects by sequential sounds combine in a manner that is well captured by a time-invariant linear system.",
keywords = "hearing, auditory, psychophysics, temporal, adaptation, summation",
author = "Plack, {C. J.} and V. Drga and Oxenham, {A. J.}",
note = "Plack first and lead author on international collaboration. He designed experiment, analysed data, wrote manuscript. Plack was PI on the EPSRC grant (GR/N07219) that funded the research and he presented the data at a meeting of the British Society of Audiology (2005). RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : Psychology",
year = "2006",
month = jan,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1134-06.2006",
language = "English",
volume = "26",
pages = "8767--8773",
journal = "Journal of Neuroscience",
issn = "0270-6474",
publisher = "Society for Neuroscience",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Masking by inaudible sounds and the linearity of temporal summation.

AU - Plack, C. J.

AU - Drga, V.

AU - Oxenham, A. J.

N1 - Plack first and lead author on international collaboration. He designed experiment, analysed data, wrote manuscript. Plack was PI on the EPSRC grant (GR/N07219) that funded the research and he presented the data at a meeting of the British Society of Audiology (2005). RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : Psychology

PY - 2006/1/1

Y1 - 2006/1/1

N2 - Many natural sounds, including speech and animal vocalizations, involve rapid sequences that vary in spectrum and amplitude. Each sound within a sequence has the potential to affect the audibility of subsequent sounds in a process known as forward masking. Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying forward masking, particularly in more realistic situations in which multiple sounds follow each other in rapid succession. A parsimonious hypothesis is that the effects of consecutive sounds combine linearly, so that the total masking effect is a simple sum of the contributions from the individual maskers. The experiment reported here tests a counterintuitive prediction of this linear-summation hypothesis, namely that a sound that itself is inaudible should, under certain circumstances, affect the audibility of subsequent sounds. The results show that, when two forward maskers are combined, the second of the two maskers can continue to produce substantial masking, even when it is completely masked by the first masker. Thus, inaudible sounds can affect the perception of subsequent sounds. A model incorporating instantaneous compression (reflecting the nonlinear response of the basilar membrane in the cochlea), followed by linear summation of the effects of the maskers, provides a good account of the data. Despite the presence of multiple sources of nonlinearity in the auditory system, masking effects by sequential sounds combine in a manner that is well captured by a time-invariant linear system.

AB - Many natural sounds, including speech and animal vocalizations, involve rapid sequences that vary in spectrum and amplitude. Each sound within a sequence has the potential to affect the audibility of subsequent sounds in a process known as forward masking. Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying forward masking, particularly in more realistic situations in which multiple sounds follow each other in rapid succession. A parsimonious hypothesis is that the effects of consecutive sounds combine linearly, so that the total masking effect is a simple sum of the contributions from the individual maskers. The experiment reported here tests a counterintuitive prediction of this linear-summation hypothesis, namely that a sound that itself is inaudible should, under certain circumstances, affect the audibility of subsequent sounds. The results show that, when two forward maskers are combined, the second of the two maskers can continue to produce substantial masking, even when it is completely masked by the first masker. Thus, inaudible sounds can affect the perception of subsequent sounds. A model incorporating instantaneous compression (reflecting the nonlinear response of the basilar membrane in the cochlea), followed by linear summation of the effects of the maskers, provides a good account of the data. Despite the presence of multiple sources of nonlinearity in the auditory system, masking effects by sequential sounds combine in a manner that is well captured by a time-invariant linear system.

KW - hearing

KW - auditory

KW - psychophysics

KW - temporal

KW - adaptation

KW - summation

U2 - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1134-06.2006

DO - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1134-06.2006

M3 - Journal article

VL - 26

SP - 8767

EP - 8773

JO - Journal of Neuroscience

JF - Journal of Neuroscience

SN - 0270-6474

ER -